IRIDESCENT PORCUPINE. 



like the former, on fruits, &c. It is said to be 

 easily tamed. The Indians apply the quills to 

 the forehead in cases. of headach : they are said 

 to adhere till they are filled with blood, and then 

 to fall off; thus relieving the complaint in a most 

 efficacious manner. Buffon seems to have con- 

 sidered this species as the same with the Hystrix 

 prehensilis. It is said .to have a strong and dis- 

 agreeable odour. The female produces two young 

 at a birth, in the hollows of trees. 



IRIDESCENT PORCUPINE. 



Hystrix .Macroura. H. pcdibus penfadactyhs, cauda longissona, 



acukis claratis. Lin.'Syiit. Xat. p. 77. 

 Short-spined Porcupine, with pentadactylous feet, and very long 



tail, tufted at the extremity with clavated bristles. 

 Hystrix Orientalis. H. cauda longissima, acutei-s undique obsita, 



in ejctremo paniculata. Briss. QuaJr. 131. 

 Porcus aculeatus sylvestris, &c. Stb. i. p. 84. pi. 52. 

 The rice-tailed Porcupine. 

 Long-tailed Porcupine. Pennant Quadr. 2. p. 1:3. 



THE iridescent Porcupine is an animal of a 

 very extraordinary appearance. It is of a very 

 thick form, and is coated with short, stiff, needle- 

 like bristles, or small spines, which, according to 

 the different directions of the light, exhibit 

 changeable colours, appearing either of a gilded 

 green, or of a reddish tinge. The head is thick 

 and short ; the snout blunt ; the eyes large ; the 

 ears rather small, rounded, and smooth within ; 

 the whiskers long, and the upper lip divided like 





